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Lucire Living 2003

With a fleet of classic Jaguar and Daimler automobiles, Steven McNulty brings grace, space and pace to those touring the southern end of New Zealand, writes Jack Yan

PHOTOGRAPHED BY THE AUTHOR
 


 

1965 Jaguar S-type, photographed by Jack Yan

OTHING compares to the grace, space and pace of the traditional Jaguar car. For years, Jaguar—especially under its present owner Ford—has been trying to recapture the heyday of the XK sports cars, the Mark II, which effectively created the compact executive market typified by the BMW 3-series, and the E-type.
   New Zealand has long been a source for well-maintained old Jags, since Kiwis do not put corrosion-causing salt on their roads, so it was not surprisingly to see a firm in Dunedin, New Zealand specializing in a chauffeur-driven service with a fleet populated exclusively with Jaguars and Daimlers.
   The award-winning Classic Jaguar Limousines’ service was our first introduction to one of the world's most southernmost cities as owner Steven McNulty collected Lucire from the airport and gave an introduction to the Presbyterian heritage of his home town. He and his drivers have to know the area well—sightseeing tours are among their specialities, though there are equally customers who hire his company for weddings, airport transfers and as a formal limousine service.
   While it was fascinating to learn of Dunedin's history—the arrival of the Scottish Presbyterians, the first university in New Zealand, and for a time the largest city in the country at the time of the nineteenth-century Gold Rush—McNulty's own company history is similarly enlightening, particularly to those who have a soft spot for the classic Jaguars.
   Beginning with a fleet of three, McNulty has expanded his operation to include the ex-Mayor of Auckland Daimler Limousine and one of the 69 high-roof Daimler Majestics. His favourite remains the S-type, a tuned twin-carb version in which he has managed to see off more obvious competition at classic rallies.
   The 1965 S-type 3·8 in McNulty's fleet certainly looks the most balanced of all the cars, the perfect embodiment of Jaguar founder William Lyons’ motto of ‘Grace, space, pace’. But for those who need the size, McNulty has a Mark X—for many years the widest production car to have come out of Great Britain—complete with a rear passenger–driver partition apeing Lyons’s own car, and a later 420G, the final evolution of the Mark X shape.
   In fact, Lyons’s presence is felt at Classic Jaguar Limousines—his photograph is honorarily placed at its premises.
   More stately is his oldest car, the Mark IX of 1960. Tall and regal, this upright Jaguar typifies the 1950s-era cars. The 1971 Daimler Limousine in his fleet has ferried dignitaries including the British Royal Family and Nelson Mandela. ‘[Auckland] Mayor Robbie [as Sir Dove-Myer Robinson was known] had trouble convincing the Council to pay for the car so he had to take out options to bring it within cost,’ recalls McNulty. Consequently, the Daimler Limousine is unusual in that it lacks power windows and air conditioning, and Classic Jaguar Limousines has kept it in its original condition.
   Regular airport transfer work is done in more modern Jaguars, of which Classic Jaguar Limousines has two: a long-wheelbase X300-series XJ6 and a Daimler Majestic. The Majestic looks like the regular XJ40 sedan that dates from October 1986 but with a high roof, not dissimilar to the one that drove British Prime Minister John Major during his final term.
   A regular amongst Jaguar aficionados in New Zealand—McNulty has organized national gatherings—he confesses that there are models he refuses to touch. ‘The early XJ40s,’ he tells Lucire. Apparently, these models—happily absent from this fleet—suffered from reliability glitches, and it was later samples that were the better sorted. He reports virtually no faults with his X300, the XJ40’s successor.
   Classic Jaguar Limousines’ drivers are well versed in the Dunedin area and take on clients in nearby Queenstown, arguably New Zealand’s premier vacation spot. They know the best spots for viewing the city—from Signal Hill to Mt Cargill—not to mention the finest accommodation and dining, and unique locations such as Taiaroa Head, at which there is an albatross colony. Tours of this very lush Otago area take a minimum of two hours.
   We have to conclude that being chauffeur-driven via Jaguar is the perfect complement to any tour in this part of the world. There is no point rushing a visit to Dunedin and its stunning surroundings. One can relax here to the point of changing the Jaguar motto to ‘Grace, space, taste.’ Sir William Lyons would still have approved. •

Jack Yan is founding publisher of Lucire. His tour was organized by Tourism Dunedin in association with the Dunedin City Council.

Visit Classic Jaguar Limousines

 

TOP: The way Jaguar grilles should be: a leaper (mascot) and a growler (badge). This is Classic Jaguar Limousines’ 1965 tuned S-type, still the pride and joy in McNulty’s fleet. CENTRE: The modern Jaguar XJ6 long wheelbase—better-maintained than most, since New Zealanders do not salt their roads. ABOVE: A trio of Jaguar tails: the Mk X (foreground), the stately Mk IX (back) and the S-type.

 

The 1971 Daimler Limousine in his fleet has ferried dignitaries including the British Royal Family and Nelson Mandela

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